Securing your APIs – The Testing Stage
10 February 2023
Introduction
This is the second of a three-part blog about the importance of the full-lifecycle approach for API security.
The previous blog discussed the development stage in the software product cycle. It described the necessity of protecting APIs, the advantage of a full life cycle approach, and the importance of securing your APIs from the very beginning.
The final part of the series covers the Testing stage.
Why Testing?
Software testing allows any faults or errors in software to be found early and fixed before the software product is delivered. A well-tested software product provides dependability, security, and excellent performance, saving time and money and improving customer satisfaction.
API Security Testing
While many different tests and testing approaches are performed on programs and applications, none focus exclusively on APIs. As described in the previous blog, APIs are the building blocks of modern applications, and most online traffic goes through them. Moreover, since APIs are the entry points to any organization’s data and connect the inside of an application to the rest of the world, even a minor vulnerability can cause significant damage. Attackers hunt for those vulnerabilities, with their sights focused on everyone.
Testing your APIs in the software development lifecycle and reviewing their resilience against attacks is a critical step in ensuring all your APIs are secure. However, programmers who build APIs are not experts in security methods. The result might be a vulnerable API.
The challenge is that every API is unique, with its own logic and specific data that it accesses. Therefore, the testing stage must contain unique and specific tests for each of the APIs in your code. To do that, you will need to automate your API discovery and testing process. Since any software may use many APIs, testing each one manually and correctly is nearly impossible. Instead, automated testing can ensure that your APIs are safe through the entire testing stage and into the production environment.
How Wib Can Help
Wib’s API Attack Simulator allows you to simulate API attacks with a single click. Given that attackers are improving and becoming more sophisticated every day, Wib’s API Attack simulator helps prevent the latest and most advanced attacks. Furthermore, it enables you to proactively detect vulnerabilities in your APIs before someone else, i.e., a hacker, does it maliciously.
Wib’s full-lifecycle solution utilizes real-world data so that the API Attack simulator is always up-to-date, allowing you to:
- Test the integrity of your APIs
- Detect potential vulnerabilities
- Remediate any vulnerabilities found
Wib ensures that your organization establishes a continuous improvement and efficiency model for API security. It provides complete visibility and insights for identifying, prioritizing, and eliminating vulnerabilities. As such, it prevents recurring errors and keeps your user’s data safe.
